2022 NASPA Institute for New Vice Presidents for Student Affairs

Fuel up for the day with a hot breakfast with fellow institute participants. Consider joining one of the pre-determined table discussions.

During this session, faculty will share their own personal experiences in obtaining and serving in an SSAO role, highlighting ways in which their personal identities have significantly shaped those experiences. Utilizing Bill George’s Authentic Leadership model as a guide, the participants will explore the intersectionality between the five qualities and their identities and how they show-up inside/outside the workplace.

While the work of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice is ever evolving, one aspect that remains constant is the role of the VPSA as equity champion. Equity champions have a growth mindset. They are knowledgeable, studied, vocal, creative, and focused on results that benefit all. Yet, along the journey, the equity champion must be cognizant of their role in creating equity detours and unintended distractions. During this session, faculty and participants will discuss navigating the waters of JEDI as dedicated advocates for students, parents, families, colleagues, and the community at large.

Quickly respond to that urgent email from campus, but hurry to lunch. It’s plated! Also, why not sit with someone you haven’t met yet?

Whether you have regular access to in-house attorneys on campus or more limited access to outside counsel, this session is designed to help you think about how to maximize the value counsel can add to supporting your efforts as a student affairs leader. Although we often think of a lawyer’s role as limited to providing technical legal advice, learn how, by partnering with your legal counsel, experienced counsel can provide a wide range of assistance and support that can help you be more effective. You will also see how the valuable insights you provide can help your legal counsel tailor advice that will reflect your campus culture and help student affairs meet its goals. By working through the problems together, you will see how the goals of the legal counsel can align with your own and how to respond when misalignment appears to exist.

See Sunday, 4:30 p.m. for locations.

Institute participants are encouraged to gather in the hotel bar prior to heading out at 6:15 p.m. for dinner with your colleagues.

It’s been a long day, and you’re tired. You’re thinking, “I do not want to have dinner with people I barely know.” Yes, you do! Don’t miss this opportunity to continue to build your network and to continue the big conversations that began earlier. Meet in the lobby of the Hilton Alexandria Old Town at 6:15 p.m. sharp to stroll to a nearby restaurant for your 6:30 p.m. reservation. (Please refer to the “Monday Night Dinner Groups” handout for information about your designated group and restaurant; dinner will be at your own expense.)

Fuel up for another intense day with a hot breakfast with fellow institute participants. Consider joining one of the pre-determined table discussions.

A successful VPSA develops a political mindset and leverages it for impact within their division and across campus. Learn how to get what your students and staff need through astute observation of your political landscape; tapping into the three sources of power; expanding your circle of influence to achieve the goal; and always finding the common ground to work with your many colleagues and constituencies…even the toxic ones!

You've been meaning to follow-up with a faculty member about something they shared during an earlier session. Seize this opportunity!

Being the senior student affairs officer on campus is, for many of us, a longtime professional aspiration. Now that we have arrived in this position, how do we successfully establish an effective lifestyle that blends our many responsibilities with our values, passions, commitments, and families — while also leading us to well-being? In many ways, this is a new starting line for a new marathon. Being the VPSA you aspire to be is about sustaining yourself over the long haul. This session will help you to consider the lifestyle demands, adjustments, and rewards that lie ahead as an institutional leader and to effectively prepare you to be both successful and well.

Grab some lunch in the Grand Ballroom Foyer and then join your coaching team for some more great discussion and insights. See Sunday, 4:30 p.m. for locations.

As a senior leader in higher education, serving as a vice president for student affairs will require new skills and the ability to be nimble to meet the expanding demands of the role. While you can build on past successes, your mindset for your VPSA responsibilities will need to evolve. Additionally, working in a pandemic has changed the context of our work and your leadership will require a new level of ongoing learning and strategic thinking to thrive in your new position.

Change into your walking shoes, grab a jacket, and meet the cohort in the hotel lobby at 3:00 p.m. sharp to begin an adventurous afternoon in Washington, D.C. or Old Town Alexandria. #comfyshoes

This afternoon, you’ll have a break to explore some of what Washington, D.C. or Old Town Alexandria has to offer. When you checked in for the Institute, you were provided with a SmarTrip card, which will support your Metrorail ride to Washington, DC and back to Alexandria. See the "Tuesday Afternoon Outing" section of the institute app for infomation about outing options and directions. If you will join a group outing, please meet in the hotel lobby at 3:00 p.m. sharp.

The hotel check-out time is 12:00 p.m. You should check out before breakfast (or request a late check-out time). You may leave your luggage with the bell desk or in our meeting space.

Organizational health in student affairs is one's division’s capacity to adapt in a world that is constantly changing. This workshop will highlight characteristics every VPSA should strive to develop in their people to ensure a high-performance workplace culture. From building a cohesive leadership team to embracing “the great retention” of staff and cultivating elements of resilience, this session is designed to prepare you for the road ahead. During our time together, we will use your responses to the five frames of organizational health that can help your “A” team emerge: Aspire, Assess, Architect, Act and Advance.

Make sure you take this final opportunity during the Institute to connect with people you may have missed until now.

See Sunday, 4:30 p.m. for locations.

Let’s go back to where we started. You identified what it takes to be an exemplary leader. You examined ways to recognize and flex formal and informal power to advance divisionals and institutional priorities. You explored executive-level strategies related to building and leading a team and leveraging identities to impact leadership. You developed strategies to sustain your professional and personal success and well-being. And, you have developed friendships with colleagues sharing the same roles on whom you can rely as the need arises. This closing session will ask you to consider how you will put all of this together to be the exemplary leader that you and your institution require.